Chapter 769 - 1: Reunion
Footprints and firelight guided Chen Zhou’s direction forward.
As he stepped into the forest, the interwoven branches formed a natural barrier, long since squeezed into a pathway by the Great Horned Deer moving through it.
High up, deer fur hanging on branches was often seen, and one could faintly smell the musky odor belonging to the deer.
The Saw-toothed Tigers were very excited—
Great Horned Deer were already part of their diet, and the hunting instinct surged through their blood. Whether it was the lively Tiger Second or the usually calm Tiger Third, their steps quickened considerably.
Afraid the little ones would alarm the deer herd, Chen Zhou had to soothe them once more, reminding that it was still not time to start hunting.
...
Soon after entering the woods, as they gradually approached the source of the firelight, several Great Horned Deer appeared along the way.
They were almost all female deer; some were rather robust, while others were so thin they appeared sickly.
Observing them, Chen Zhou thought to himself, it seems raising a deer herd here wasn’t as smooth as imagined.
The weak Great Horned Deer were almost all adult deer, at the peak of their vitality. Under normal circumstances, they would hardly fall ill, but now even they were this emaciated, indicating the deer herd was not doing well.
The deer in the forest seemed already very familiar with humans. Regarding Chen Zhou’s unexpected intrusion, they didn’t react overly aggressively.
On the other hand, the scent from the three young Saw-toothed Tigers instinctively made the Great Horned Deer uneasy, although it didn’t scare them into fleeing, they quietly distanced from Chen Zhou, moving deeper into the forest.
The massive deer bodies passed through the woods, causing snow accumulated on branches to fall, creating bursts of sound.
Close to the firelight’s position not far from the forest’s edge, the Deer Raiser seemed to have heard this sound, whistling from afar.
However, the whistle sounded somewhat hoarse, and lacking skill; hearing the whistle, the Great Horned Deer hesitated, not returning immediately but standing there dazed.
Based on the whistle, Chen Zhou completely determined the Deer Raiser’s location, and was about to continue towards there, when he heard the sound of branches being moved, seemingly indicating the Deer Raiser was actively coming over.
Thinking passive appearance seems less threatening than active approach, knowing the Deer Raiser would be here soon enough, Chen Zhou simply stopped advancing, waiting in place.
The night was very dark now, clearly, the Deer Raiser lacked night vision ability, and was carrying a torch.
He looked distantly at the layered branches, only seeing a small flickering firelight gradually approaching, slowly magnifying.
The Deer Raiser’s footsteps were very slow, giving Chen Zhou an exceptional sense of sluggishness, even heaviness, sounding more stiff compared to the injured Paul.
Feeling this sound was very unusual, Chen Zhou preemptively gripped the knife handle.
In case this person was not well-meaning and attacked first, he couldn’t let others gain the advantage.
...
A total of less than two hundred meters from the firelight’s position, that person dawdled for a long time.
Even the Great Horned Deer grew impatient, seeing the Saw-toothed Tiger showed no intention to attack them, they all lowered their heads to search for food in the snow.
As they got closer, Chen Zhou heard that person curse.
He seemed to use a certain dialect, sounding somewhat familiar but unable to distinguish precisely from which area at the moment, only knowing it was cursing the Great Horned Deer.
Upon hearing this voice, a sudden sense of familiarity arose.
Initially, Chen Zhou thought he might have heard local elders curse in the modern era city unintentionally, until that person shouted again, he then realized wasn’t this the voice of one of the Rangers—
Belonging to an ancient official language, which was also part of Hua Xia language, although because of the long history, the pronunciation had greatly changed yet belonged to the same system, making people feel "can understand yet not completely understand."
"Oh, it turns out to be an old acquaintance!"
Comparing the memory of the voice, confirming this person was indeed the White-clothed Ranger, Chen Zhou beamed with joy.
A while ago he was still considering whether to resort to violence, looks like now there’s no need to struggle.
He was originally the creditor of these two Rangers, coming now to "collect debts," demanding the two Great Horned Deer owed to him was rightful.
Besides, perhaps these two raised so many Great Horned Deer precisely to fulfill promises.
Isn’t it said that Jianghu people value martial virtue, and honor above all?
Since it was an old friend reunion, Chen Zhou no longer concealed, boldly walked toward the direction of the firelight.
Two people approached each other, crossing the hundred meters in mere moments.
Soon, Chen Zhou saw the White-clothed Ranger.
...
But time had passed, the Northern Territory now wasn’t like before, extremely cold; the once suave and unearthly young Swordsman had changed attire.
He wore a large hat made from animal skin on his head, was draped in animal skin, wrapping himself tightly, walking hunched over, carrying a fawn in his arms.
The fawn seemed ill, even when held it didn’t struggle, a half-dead appearance.
The White-clothed Ranger similarly hadn’t retained his former vigor, Chen Zhou noticed his walk showed some shoulder tilt and limp, and the arm holding the fawn only exerted force with one hand, the other arm hung weakly under the shoulder, as if broken, only able to awkwardly use the armpit to hold the torch.
"That’s strange, I recall in the fight with the Mammoth, this person’s limbs weren’t badly injured.
How come a few months passed, becoming like this?"
Chen Zhou was puzzled, glancing again behind the White-clothed Ranger, looking for the one speaking with a northern accent and wearing Brown Armor, the Longbow was "tricked" from him, repairing the bow rested upon him.